A new Volvo plant will probably be established in the southwest China city of Chengdu, said Volvo Group executives Sunday at the on-going 11th Western China International Fair that runs from Oct. 22 to 26 in Chengdu.

"The new plant will be set up after Chinese authorities approve our application and the Volvo board of directors OKs the move in December," said Shen Hui, Volvo's senior vice president responsible for operations in China.

Shen said he was very satisfied with Chengdu' s investment environment, human resources, and relations between the auto enterprises and the local government.

"Chengdu has sound government policy support, industry foundation, infrastructure, human resources, and suppliers. And I see a promising market in western China," said Shen.

Chinese leaders have called for more efforts to develop the country's vast western regions and raise peoples' standards of living.

President Hu Jintao stressed, during a working meeting from Oct. 17 to 18 in Beijing, the importance of developing the country's west, saying it is a major task for the country to build a moderately prosperous society and is in the interests of people from all ethnic groups in the region.

He added that the government would make unswerving efforts to raise peoples' livelihoods in the western regions in the next decade, including creating more jobs, and improving education, medical services and social security networks.

On Friday, another major company announced its opening of a new plant in Chengdu. Foxconn, the world's largest electronics contractor, opened a new US$2 billion plant in the city to manufacture laptop computers.

Also, Hongfujin Precision Electronics (Chengdu) Co. Ltd., the factory's owner and a subsidiary of Taiwan-based Foxconn Technology Group, has registered capital of US$100 million.

Chinese carmaker Geely Holdings Group Co. Ltd. and Ford Motor Co. signed the acquisition deal on March 28 and Geely took over Volvo this August after paying US$1.3 billion.

As soon as the agreement was completed, the Chinese group named Li Shufu, chairman of the board for Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, as the newly appointed chairman of Volvo.

Geely's 100 percent ownership of Volvo gives the Chinese automaker Volvo's 9 series of vehicles, 3 latest production platforms, as well as production capacity of 600,000 units and more than 2,000 sales locations worldwide.

Volvo's brand value is estimated at US$2 billion.

The 11th Western China International Fair will attract over 60,000 people, including politicians and entrepreneurs, and those signed agreements are expected to reach 700 billion yuan (US$105 billion).

(Xinhua News Agency October 25, 2010)